Funding Not-For-Profits With Insulation
Naturally, funding for not-for-profit foundations in a slow economy is not readily available. Many foundations have taken on aging academic and municipal buildings as a solution to getting up and running without incurring the high costs of a constructing a building of their own only to discover the ongoing maintenance and repair of an aging building is relentless and the cost of heating and cooling the building is astronomical. For organizations operating on very limited facilities budgets, building performance concerns can hamstring all other operations. Interestingly, as evidenced through our work with a local arts foundation in Belfast, Maine, spending money on renovating older structures could be the silver bullet for cash-strapped not-for-profits. The foundation occupies an 80-year-old brick masonry structure, formerly housing an elementary school. Spatially, the multi-level layout houses the intended program of flexible artist studios well. Physically, the building is in quite good shape considering its age; there is certainly ongoing maintenance, but it is manageable. However, when analyzed, the clear outlier is the annual heating bill, totaling nearly $20,000. The response was to suggest that rather than fundraising for a very slightly more efficient, yet costly, oil-fueled boiler Band-Aid, the group could raise slightly more money to super-insulate the existing assembly and in turn cut the annual energy demand by 68%. When coupled with a highly efficient air-source heat pump, annual heating expenses could be reduced to $3,000 resulting in a net savings of nearly one million dollars over the next 25 years. Moreover, the holistic approach allows the energy use to reduced to an extent to where onsite renewable energy to cover the heating bill was not a dream, but rather an achievable and financially beneficial option long term. Given the tight financial reality facing occupants of aging structures, the cost-benefit alone of this type of solution is game changing and allows for a operational freedom not possible with the existing building. Moreover, this approach represents a visionary, marketable ideal; one which can be used to garner excitement in the community and extend the limits of fundraising in ways not possible with simple, routine maintenance. 
